An Australian mining company that is scheduled to build a roughly $289 million electric vehicle battery material plant in Ascension Parish by 2025 has signed a deal with General Motors to supply enough manganese sulfate to support production of more than 1 million GM electric vehicles annually.
Element 25 will supply up to 32,500 metric tons of manganese sulfate to GM each year starting in 2025, according to a news release.
The plant would be the first in the Western Hemisphere to manufacture high purity manganese sulphate monohydrate, or HPMSM, a critical component in electric vehicle batteries. A higher manganese content in batteries can lead to better lifespans and charging times, Element 25’s website says.
GM is giving Element 25 an $85 million loan to help fund the 230,000-square-foot facility’s construction, company officials said. Site preparation is set for third quarter of this year with operations beginning about two years later.
Though Element 25 officials haven’t said exactly where the facility will be, the company’s application for Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption incentives says it will be located near the intersection of La. 44 and Old Highway 22, near the east bank of the Mississippi River.
The plant would create roughly 200 new direct jobs with average annual salaries of more than $90,000, according to Louisiana Economic Development. It would also create 408 indirect jobs.
“The facility E25 will build in Louisiana is significant because it’s expected be the first plant in the United States to produce battery-grade manganese sulfate, a key component of cathode active material which helps improve EV battery cell cost,” Doug Parks, GM’s executive vice president of global product development, purchasing and supply chain, said in a statement.
Element 25 plans to import some of its raw materials from its Butcherbird Mine in western Australia, while other inputs would be sourced from Louisiana companies. The company’s production process creates byproducts that can be used for other industrial needs, including fertilizer feedstocks and steel manufacturing.
“E25 is working to be a leading source of high quality, vertically integrated, traceable and ESG-compliant battery material to the global electric vehicle industry and GM’s support does more than accelerate our expansion in the United States,” Element 25 Managing Director Justin Brown said in a statement. “Together, we are creating a resilient and sustainable North American supply chain that will help introduce millions of customers to the performance and environmental benefits of EVs.”
Element 25’s latest move is another step in Louisiana’s manufacturing buildout of key materials for electric vehicle battery production.
Back in October, the U.S. Department of Energy said Koura would receive a $100 million grant to help build North America’s first lithium hexafluorophosphate, or LiPF6, plant at the company’s St. Gabriel facility. Syrah Resources, another Australian firm, received nearly $220 million to help expand its Vidalia graphite processing plant to make natural graphite active anode material.
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